Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 Hands-On Video

We’re not quite ready with our review of the Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 yet. Don’t worry, we’re on the case, but we’ve still got to put the camera through its paces and sap the battery dry all over again before we can let you know exactly what we think. What we do have now though is a pretty solid first impression which we thought we’d share with you in the form of a video. A review preview if you will before we put our conclusive star rating against Samsung’s latest Galaxy Ace.

Recapping on the specs and the Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 packs a 3.8-inch WVGA screen which is sharp, responsive and offers decent viewing angles. It’s a pretty curvaceous phone, much less iPhone-esque than the Ace was with its softer sides and corners. It’s also a bit chunky at 10.5mm and feels pretty plasticy, so doesn’t win any medals in terms of design premium. Having said that it doesn’t feel budget with decent weighting, and neither would we expect it to given its £240 pricing.

Inside the phone is Android 2.3, also known as Gingerbread. Such an outdated version of Android is a major let down in mid 2012 with manufacurers like LG and HTC releasing even their mid-range end devices with Ice Cream Sandwich over the past months. Samsung compensate for this somewhat with TouchWiz though. The user interface is flashy and offers the same look and feel as the more premium Samsung Galaxy S2.

All in all therefore, first impressions are good. While we aren’t smitten with the design and the lack of Ice Cream Sandwich is a blow, the solid performance coupled with decent hardware works in the Galaxy Ace 2’s favour. We’ll be bringing your our full review shortly, but in the meantime enjoy our first impressions video below.